Beadle's Dime National Speaker, Embodying Gems of Oratory and Wit, Particularly Adapted to American Schools and Firesides: Speaker Series Number 2, Revised and Enlarged Edition
General
Beadle's Dime National Speaker, Embodying Gems of Oratory and Wit, Particularly Adapted to American Schools and Firesides: Speaker Series Number 2, Revised and Enlarged Edition
Recitations
In conclusion, the eagle was an old symbol. The Egyptians had it; the
Persians had it; the Romans, after trying four or five other animals,
took it, in the time, I think, of Marius. Therefore, as it is one of
the oldest illustrations of national importance, I indulge in the
sentiment that, as the eagle now represents the nations of Russia and
the United States, it may at least be one among the latest.--_Judge
Daly, of New York._
WASHINGTON.--_S. S. Cox._
All over the world examples may be found which are lessons to
us. Could you go to Naples, you will find beyond the Grotto of
Phisillippo, where the soft waves of the delightful Bay make their
music on the shore--the tomb of the great Latin poet--Virgil. Men from
every clime go thither to pay their homage to his tomb, although two
thousand years have gone since his Epic was given to the world. His
tomb is still the mausoleum of Genius. It is respected, protected and
honored. Some of you have seen the monuments Scotland has reared to
her gifted men. Some of you have seen the tomb of Walter Scott, at
Dryburg Abbey, and have not only admired its beauty and repose, but
have admired the vigilant care with which it is guarded and protected.
Go to Rome! Beneath St. Peter's Bascilica, you will find there the
tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul. They are guarded ever by
priestly vigilance, and around them burn the ever-trimmed lamps of
religious veneration. At Paris, the great Napoleon sleeps, honored
in death beyond all human conquerors, in the _Hotel des Invalides_,
surrounded by a hundred banners, emblems of his victories and his
genius!
England has her Westminster Hall, wherein is enshrined her royal line,
and by a higher heritage a line of genius, from Chaucer, who sung the
dawn of English verse, to Macaulay, who illustrated her history in
the undying eloquence of his prose. France has her St. Denis, the last
abode of her kings, and Paris has its Pantheon, in whose vaults the
literary demigods are immortalized!
But I pass these reminiscences by. We have a tomb which, I trust, in
future, will be cared for and protected; and as long as woman is the
watcher, her faith and patience will guard it with vestal vigilance.
It is neither a trite nor an untrue saying, that if a man bears the
blade of patriotism, woman is the jewel in its hilt. She has and ever
will make that jewel shine, wherever there is a fair opportunity and
an ennobling civilization.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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